1999 Tennessee Titans season

Infobox NFL_season
team = Tennessee Titans
year = 1999
record = 13-3
division_place = 2nd AFC Central
coach = Jeff Fisher
stadium = Adelphia Coliseum
playoffs = Lost Super Bowl XXXIV
previous=1998The 1999 Tennessee Titans season was the Titans' 40th season and their 30th in the National Football League. It was the first season for the club under the moniker "Titans," while the nickname "Oilers" was retired by the NFL. The Titans became the seventh Wild Card to qualify for the Super Bowl. [ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 256 ]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Regular Season

eason Standings

Postseason

AFC Wild Card

* Tennessee Titans 22, Buffalo Bills 16Linescore Amfootball
Road=Bills
R1=0
R2=0
R3=7
R4=9
RT=16
Home=Titans
H1=0
H2=12
H3=0
H4=10
HT=22

"at Adelphia Coliseum, Nashville, Tennessee"

*Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
*Game weather: convert|58|°F|°C, cloudy
*TV announcers (ABC): Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire (color commentators), and Solomon Wilcots (sideline reporter)
*Referee: Phil Luckett
*Game attendance: 66,672

Music City Miracle

The Music City Miracle is a famous play in the NFL Wild Card Playoffs involving the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills that took place on January 8, 2000 (following the 1999 regular season) at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, Tennessee.

Going into the game, Bills coach Wade Phillips created a stir by starting quarterback Rob Johnson, rather than Doug Flutie, who had started 15 games, and who had led the team to the playoffs. Late in the fourth quarter, the stage was set for an exciting finish. Tennessee received the ball with 6:15 remaining. Titans receiver Isaac Byrd's 16-yard punt return and five carries from Eddie George for 17 yards set up a wobbly 36-yard field goal by Del Greco. The Titans took a 15-13 lead with 1:48 to go. On the ensuing drive, with no timeouts remaining, Bills quarterback Johnson led the Bills on a five-play, 37-yard drive to the Titans' 24 yard line. On the last two plays from scrimmage, Johnson played with only one shoe on, as he had lost one and had no time to put it back on, with the clock running out. With only 16 seconds remaining in the game, Steve Christie, the Bills' kicker, made a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo in the lead, 16-15.

Moments later, Christie kicked off, and Titans player Lorenzo Neal received. Neal handed the ball off to Titans tight end Frank Wycheck, who then lateraled the ball across the field to another Titans player, Kevin Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown. The play was named Home Run Throwback by the Titans and was developed by Special Teams Coordinator Alan Lowry.

* Official reviewPer the instant replay rules, the play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett since it was uncertain if the ball had been a forward pass, which is illegal on a kickoff return. However, the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown, and the Titans won the game 22-16. After the game, however, many Bills players and fans continued to insist that it was indeed an illegal forward pass.

* Aftermath

The victory, in front of a franchise-record crowd at Adelphia Coliseum, allowed the Tennessee franchise to advance to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs for the first time since 1993. Subsequent victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars sent the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV to face the St. Louis Rams, where they lost by a touchdown.

It could be said that the game served as revenge for the Titans/Oilers franchise for The Comeback, where the Bills came back from a 32-point deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers, 41-38, in overtime.For the Bills, it led to the firing after 13 seasons of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven. One year later, Phillips was fired (partly due to his failure to lead the Bills past the first round of the playoffs during his tenure) and replaced by Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. It was added to the list of infamous moments in Buffalo sports history, joining Wide Right and No Goal.

AFC Divisional Playoff

* Tennessee Titans 19, Indianapolis Colts 16Linescore Amfootball
Road=Titans
R1=0
R2=6
R3=7
R4=6
RT=19
Home=Colts
H1=3
H2=6
H3=0
H4=7
HT=16

"at RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana"

*Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
*Game weather: Played indoors, domed stadium
*TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel (play-by-play) and Phil Simms (color commentator)
*Referee: Johnny Grier
*Game attendance: 60,314

Although the Indianapolis Colts, behind second year quarterback Peyton Manning, had posted some gaudy numbers en route to a sterling 13-3 regular season record, the upstart Tennessee Titans paid them little respect. Running back Eddie George rushed for a team playoff-record 162 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown, to help lead the Titans to victory. The much-ballyhooed playoff debut of Manning proved to be a false alarm as he completed only 19 of 43 passes, and would prove a harbinger of many playoff struggles to come for the star quarterback.

AFC Championship Game

* Tennessee Titans 33, Jacksonville Jaguars 14Linescore Amfootball
Road=Titans
R1=7
R2=3
R3=16
R4=7
RT=33
Home=Jaguars
H1=7
H2=7
H3=0
H4=0
HT=14

"at ALLTEL Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida"

*Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
*Game weather: convert|75|°F|°C, partly cloudy
*TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel (play-by-play) and Phil Simms (color commentator)
*Referee: Bernie Kukar
*Game attendance: 75,206

The Jacksonville Jaguars had been one of the NFL's best teams in the 1999 season, pacing the AFC with a 14-2 record. However, both of those losses came at the hands of their opponents in the AFC Championship game, the Tennessee Titans. The Titans would prove up to the task of beating their division rival once again as the Titans scored a resounding 33-14 victory. The Titans advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history by forcing six turnovers and a safety.

uper Bowl XXXIV

The Titans took over the ball at their own 10-yard line with 1:54 left in the game after committing a holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff. McNair started out the drive with a pair of completions to Mason and Wycheck for gains of 9 and 7 yards to reach the 28-yard line. Then after throwing an incompletion, defensive back Dre' Bly's 15-yard facemask penalty while tackling McNair on a 12-yard scramble gave the Titans a first down at the St. Louis 45-yard line. On the next play, St. Louis was penalized 5 yards for being offsides, moving the ball to the 40-yard line with 59 seconds left. McNair then ran for 2 yards, followed by a 7-yard completion to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. Three plays later, with the Titans facing 3rd down and 5 to go, McNair was hit by two Rams' defenders, but he escaped and completed a 16-yard pass to Dyson to gain a first down at the Rams 10-yard line. Tennessee then used up their final timeout with just 6 seconds left in the game, giving them a chance for one last play. McNair threw a short pass to Kevin Dyson down the middle, which looked certain to tie up the game, until Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackled Dyson at the one-yard line as time expired. Dyson tried to stretch his arm and the football across the goal line, but he had already gone down, so it was too late. This final play has gone down in NFL history as simply "The Tackle".

After the game, many sports writers commented on Warner's rise from an unknown backup to a Super Bowl MVP, but Warner himself wasn't impressed by it. "How can you be in awe of something that you expect yourself to do?" Warner pointed out. "People think this season is the first time I touched a football; they don't realize I've been doing this for years -- just not on this level, because I never got the chance. Sure, I had my tough times, but you don't sit there and say, 'Wow, I was stocking groceries five years ago, and look at me now.' You don't think about it, and when you do achieve something, you know luck has nothing to do with it." [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/34/]

coring summary

* STL - FG: Jeff Wilkins 27 yards 3-0 STL
* STL - FG: Jeff Wilkins 29 yards 6-0 STL
* STL - FG: Jeff Wilkins 28 yards 9-0 STL
* STL - TD: Torry Holt, 9 yard pass from Warner (Jeff Wilkins kick) 16-0 STL
* TEN - TD: Eddie George 1 yard run (2-pt conv: pass failed) 16-6 STL
* TEN - TD: Eddie George 2 yard run (Al Del Greco kick) 16-13 STL
* TEN - FG: Al Del Greco 43 yards 16-16 tie
* STL - TD: Isaac Bruce 73 yard pass from Kurt Warner (Jeff Wilkins kick) 23-16 STL

Awards and records

Milestones

References

* [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/oti/1999.htm Titans on Pro Football Reference]
* [http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1999-ten Titans on jt-sw.com]